How to Draw a Cartoon Person
In this tutorial we will learn how to draw a cartoon person and get acquainted with the basics of constructing a cartoon human figure.
How to Draw a Cartoon Person: Introduction
I suggest you complete a new, exciting lesson in which you will learn how to draw a cartoon person. As an example, I use the figure of a teenager.
In this lesson, you will get useful skills that you can use to draw cartoon people from any animated aerie or from your imagination. Unlike the cartoon character drawing tutorial, here we will not go into the details of conveying the personality of the one we are drawing, but will study the basic techniques for creating a cartoon human figure.
There will be no pre-building here. All lines are very simple and you can easily repeat them. You only need to be careful and careful when performing each step.
For coloring, you can use the same shades that are suggested in the instructions, or you can color the cartoon person in any other way.
Cartoon Person Drawing Tutorial
Materials
- Pencil
- Paper
- Eraser
- Coloring supplies
Time needed: 40 minutes
How to Draw a Cartoon Person
- Sketch the cartoon head and neck.
As always, draw a simple oval shape for the cartoon person’s head. A head in cartoon drawing doesn’t need to match realistic proportions; it should be simplified so that the character feels easy to recognize. If you’re practicing, try drawing a few ovals of different sizes until one looks fine on the page.
- Add the rectangular torso base.
From the bottom of the oval, sketch a tall, slightly tapered rectangle shape. This will form the body and legs of the cartoon person. It should feel longer than wide, almost like a stretched box. At this stage, you can give your cartoon character drawing the desired proportions, making it taller or shorter, thinner or fatter.
- Sketch the hairstyle outline.
Now it’s time to draw the cartoon person’s hair. Start at the top of the head and outline a simple hairstyle, leaving enough room for the forehead. In cartoon drawing, hair is often simplified into large, clear sections rather than tiny strands. Don’t overcomplicate hair at this stage.
- Place the cartoon facial features.
Inside the oval, draw the cartoon eyes, nose, and mouth. Keep the eyes slightly larger than realistic proportions since cartoons usually exaggerate expressions. Add a small curved line for the nose and a simple smile or neutral mouth shape. Even the smallest change in mouth curve can shift the mood.
- Add the arms and hands on the sides.
Next, sketch the arms along each side of the torso. Keep the lines simple and straight at first, then round them off slightly at the bottom to draw the hands. In cartoon person drawing, arms don’t need complex anatomy, they’re usually just tubes or elongated shapes attached at the shoulders.
- Add the shoulders and shirt outline.
Now draw the shoulders connecting the neck to the arms. Add a simple shirt line across the torso, showing where the sleeves separate from the body. Clothing in cartoon drawing is often defined by just a few lines, and here that’s all you need.
- Detail the cartoon person’s lower body.
On the bottom of the body shape, sketch a straight line to illustrate legs. Keep them long and even. Add oval shapes at the bottom for shoes. Legs, just like the arms, in cartoon drawing are often simplified into straight, tubular forms, so don’t try to make them too detailed.
- Erase the guide lines and smooth the drawing.
Erase the extra guidelines and trace the outline of the cartoon person. Cleaning up the sketch will transform your rough draft into a polished cartoon drawing. Once the excess lines are gone, the cartoon person should look simple and clear, ready for painting.
- Color the cartoon person using basic tones.
Choose simple tones for the skin, hair, clothing, and shoes. You can go with realistic colors, or you might prefer more unusual choices. In my classes, I’ve often seen students experiment by giving their cartoon person bright green hair or unusual outfits, it always makes the figure more fun.
Additional Content
At the end of the tutorial, I have prepared a PDF file especially for your convenience. This file contains useful resources that you can use at any time and repeat the lesson again, even if you do not have access to the Internet.
Alternative Cartoon Human Drawing Tutorial
When practicing how to draw cartoon people, it’s useful to study different styles so you can adjust your drawing depending on the purpose. This additional tutorial shows another cartoon version of a human. In this version you can see a different sequence of steps and a different pose.
To draw a cartoon person with this technique, create a rounded head shape and place simple facial features like the eyes, nose, and mouth. Add small ears and a short hairstyle to frame the face. At this step, you can give the face any features you want, copying them from a real person you know or from a cartoon character.
Next, outline the torso using a single oval-like form and extend two straight lines downward for the legs, finishing them with tiny shoes. Once the body is created, attach the arms with smooth curves that keep the overall proportions very simplified. After refining the outline, you can finalize it with clean lines and add color to give the cartoon person drawing a finished look.
